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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592077">A Cage Of Your Own Design</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_sphinx/pseuds/sleepy_sphinx'>sleepy_sphinx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Dealing with Emotions, Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Logan Angst, Logan is Bad At Emotions, Remus angst, Zombies, also general remus imagery warning, but then i had to go and give them em emotional resolutions, fight/make up, in which logan learns to be a bit less of a dick, originally this was just remus roasting logan, platonic intrulogical - Freeform, shouting, this is why we can't have not nice things</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:14:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,995</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_sphinx/pseuds/sleepy_sphinx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite pretending to know everything, Logan still has a lot to learn– about handling emotions, about being ignored, about Remus, about himself. After an explosion of anger leads to the exposure of many ugly truths, Logan decides to seek out a teacher of his own. And who better to discuss mental health with than the embodiment of intrusive thoughts?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders &amp; Logic | Logan Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Cage Of Your Own Design</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>before we start!!! special shout out to tumblr users @minirocks, @arandomdork, @demseaanenome, and @crepuscular-shoelace for beta-reading! especially @minirocks for helping with the ending! you can find them on ao3 under lganc, demseaanenome, and A_Random_Dork, so go check those epic talented people out!!! </p>
<p>this was supposed to be a quick drabble.... and it took me a month..... how did this happen...... anyways, hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“HEY NERD WANNA DO SOME SCIENCE SHIT?” Remus yelled as he kicked open the door to Logan’s room. Logan almost snapped his pencil in half. He was so tired (which was illogical, he had received the full eight and one-half hours of sleep the previous night), he was so angry (which was </span>
  <em>
    <span>extremely</span>
  </em>
  <span> illogical, because he shouldn’t technically be feeling </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> emotions), and he was so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> done. And a chaotic force like Remus was not what he needed right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Placing his pencil down onto his desk with a passive-aggressive </span>
  <em>
    <span>clink</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Logan spun around in his swivel chair to face Remus. “While I appreciate your assistance with my last dissection, I really am not in the mood– I don’t have time for such a frivolous activity. Apologies.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus shrugged. “Aww, that’s a shame! Well, hit me up when you’re finished,” he singsonged. The duke then proceeded to enter Logan’s room (uninvited) and flop down onto his bed. He summoned a long, pointed bone shard and began to clean his teeth with it rather loudly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan sighed. On a normal day, he could ignore Remus fairly well, but today– today he simply could not. After attempting to get back to drafting his schedule (pointless endeavor, Thomas was never going to stick to it), he slammed his pencil down and snapped, “Can’t you go bother someone else?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah,” Remus said casually. “You’re the only part of Thomas that doesn’t fill me with seething rage right now. Myself included!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think I was entirely clear.” Logan’s words were iron-hot. “I would much prefer it if you left me alone right now, Remus.” He stood from his desk, as though he could somehow force the duke to leave through physical means. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus looked up, surprised. “Heh, you’re really hot when you’re mad. But why so grumpy today? I thought you didn’t feel anything–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t,” Logan snapped. “I have a perfectly logical explanation for wanting you gone, but I </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> need to disclose it with you. This is my personal space, and I am asking you respectfully to vacate it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus chuckled, rubbing uncomfortably against his already worn-down patience. “Yeesh, alright. Message received.” Remus got up from Logan’s bed (leaving behind a copious amount of dirt) and sarcastically saluted the logical side. “Don’t really know what you would even have to be upset about, but sure, keep on stewing in your own self-pity–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan’s door suddenly slammed shut. Remus stopped in his tracks, surprised. “Whoa there, Logie Bear. You almost squashed my hand! Don’t miss next time, that would have been really cool–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t have the right to be angry?” Logan yelled. “I– do you even know what I’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours alone?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus blinked, a smug expression on his face. “Aw, are you talking about how Double Dee done did a suppression on you for like ten minutes? Did that make you feel all sad? Make you wanna cry?” He leaned against the door and folded his arms. “Can’t imagine what it must have felt like, not like I was locked in the Denial Dungeon for twenty years of Tomathy’s life.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It wasn’t just that! The others didn’t even care when I was imprisoned! They didn’t notice!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, cause Janus is good at lying. And they clearly were worried, you were just too busy drowning in your own sea of sorrows that you didn’t let them talk. Satan’s esophagus, I came here to blow off steam, not to be the voice of reason to the literal voice of reason while he’s having a temper tantrum. Ya mind letting me out of here?” Remus asked, taking a step towards the door nervously. Logan didn’t notice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I– no, you don’t understand!” he shouted. “Of course you don’t understand! They never listen to me! I try so hard to help Thomas, to educate them, like I’m supposed to, and yet I am always shouted over or pushed under the rug! I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> tired of being ignored!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus blinked. For a moment, there was a deafening silence in the room. Logan became hyper-aware of the way his heart was beating, the way his breath was suddenly ragged and uneven, the way he was shaking and pulsing with the energy of his room. The way Remus was pressed against the door, looking small and almost scared. But then his eyes began to sparkle with malice, and he exploded with cackling laughter. “Oh, you insensitive </span>
  <em>
    <span>little shit!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he cried. “You– you think </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> ignored? Thomas was paying pretty good attention to you when you explicitly told him to tune me out!” His voice wavered painfully, and his Cheshire-cat grin was one twist away from a snarl. He nonchalantly wiped a neon tear out of his eyes, where it fizzled like acid on the carpeted floor below. “God, you’re a fucking– god. I can’t believe this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan felt regret surround him– he always felt regret after he exploded like that, but this time it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>worse. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He opened his mouth to apologize, but somehow he couldn’t get any words out.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y’know, what? I lied, I can totally believe this! Your ego is so paper-thin and fragile that whenever you’re just a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little</span>
  </em>
  <span> bit ignored you have to run away to your little text box to sulk. You did it when Tommy took that lovely trip into Daddy’s room, and you did it today! Like– like just because they don’t give you their undivided attention they don’t deserve your input. You know how pathetic that is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan winced. “I– I’m sorry–” He mumbled weakly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh perfect! That fixes absolutely everything! My urge to take that tie around your neck and hang you with it is totally gone now, well done!” Bright green tears were streaming down Remus’s face by now, and he was shaking with barely-contained rage. “AND NOW I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO ISOLATE MYSELF BECAUSE EVERYONE IS JUST SET ON FILLING ME WITH RAGE TODAY!” Before Logan had time to react, Remus had turned away and punched the door. The navy wood began to rapidly age rot away where Remus had touched it, until eventually there was a hole big enough for Remus to run out of. He didn’t even bother with the customary crude hand signal as he left. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan stared at the hole in his door. He was feeling the usual waves of regret that followed one of his unfortunate explosions of anger, but this time they were painfully mixing with the words Remus had said. Logan sat down and grabbed his pen and a clean sheet of paper. He could think his way through this dilemma and fast-track his way back to the comfortable numb state in which he typically resided. Logan wiped his eyes to rid himself of the irritated pricking sensation and set to work. No problem was too great to be rationalized, after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To start, Logan had to determine if Remus’ criticisms were worthy of consideration in the first place. The duke was technically capable of falsehoods, and it wasn’t impossible that he had only said these things to get under Logan’s skin– however, Remus’ primary function as the unpleasant and often-repressed truths Thomas held about himself (and, by extension, his sides) made this theory unlikely. The only real way to determine if his statements had any merit was to review them himself and use logic to come to his own conclusions. It was here that Logan began to notice a bitter taste in his mouth, but he swallowed it down and continued with his analysis. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first claim was easy. Remus made the objection that Logan had no right to complain about being ignored, since Remus was objectively much more repressed. It was true that comparatively, Logan had more sway over Thomas than Remus did. But that made sense, didn’t it? Logan represented an important function, perhaps </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> most important function, while Remus was just the undesirable portion of an already frivolous and overblown trait. That was the truth– and yet, something inside of him twisted and soured as he thought of it. He shouldn’t be feeling guilty about recognizing the truth, even if it was harsh– he shouldn’t be feeling </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Logan clutched his temple. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> be feeling anything, but it was clearly something he couldn’t control. And that was insurmountably frustrating. He was too drained to have yet another full-on explosion, which left him with just the scrapping remains of anger and a general pervasive feeling of exhaustion. He was tired of being so illogical, and he was tired of being ignored. The two feelings were linked, tangled twisted together until he couldn’t differentiate them. The exhaustion was itself illogical– Thomas was well-rested, and he was just an extension! Figments of imagination don’t just get tired, and yet here he was, close to tears despite the fact that there was no reason for a fictitious form to have that kind of response, there weren’t any particles in the air to disturb his eyes and he certainly wasn’t</span>
  <em>
    <span> feeling</span>
  </em>
  <span>–</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan took a deep breath in. He was spiraling again. Nothing was making sense to him anymore, but he knew that pretending his emotions didn’t exist was just as illogical as having them in the first place. He was tired. And he was angry. And he was sorry for taking it out on someone who didn’t deserve it. And… and he still wasn’t quite sure what to do with these feelings. Logan needed help. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, he stood up. He could go to Remus. He could apologize, at the very least. He could ask once again about his flaws, and how to fix them. And he could get some advice on dealing with emotions in a less… explosive manner. Nothing about it would be pleasant, or easy, but it was a place to start. And that was really all Logan needed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>~</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Remus’s door opened with a loud, unpleasant creak. Logan flinched– he hadn’t even knocked on the door yet. The duke’s domain was a barren wasteland in grayscale, with occasional green lightning illuminating what looked like a video-game’s depiction of a nuclear wasteland. The duke was nowhere to be seen, although Logan did notice a black rat skittering through the wilted grass. It looked at him for a second with gleaming red eyes, before darting off. Logan glanced around one more time, shrugged, and began to follow it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan smelled the zombies first. It’s not something typically addressed in apocalypse-oriented media, but zombies are still technically human corpses, so it stands to reason that a… less than pleasant odor would accompany them everywhere. Logan gagged on the scent for quite some time until he remembered he didn’t technically have to breathe. He continued following the metaphorical white rabbit towards a large tower that looked like a black rook from a chess game. The tower was surrounded by a hoard of zombies, clamoring and piling on top of each other in their single-minded desperation to reach whatever was on top of the tower.  A solo silhouette was perched precariously on the tower’s edge. Logan couldn’t make out many details of the figure, but the outline of the mace he was swinging at the zombies below was a pretty clear indication of who it was. Logan quickened his pace, watching as the duke struck a zombie in the skull, causing its head to explode into bright green goop. “Remus?” Logan called, once he was an appropriate distance away. “May I have a moment?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus’s head jerked upwards, surprised. As he was distracted, a particularly ambitious zombie reached up and scratched him on the leg with strangely clawed hands. Remus let out a string of obscenities as he beat the zombie away, scarlet stripes beginning to appear on his leg. Logan would have apologized for the distraction if he wasn’t dealing with his own predicament. A few of the zombies had heard his shout and were now staring at him with blank eyes and hungry expressions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan cautiously took a step back. “Er, Remus?” He shouted nervously as they began to approach. Dying wasn’t typically an inconvenience for him, and as the embodiment of logic he could typically reverse any temporary damage effects instantaneously. In Remus’s own room though, the place where his imaginative powers were strongest… there may be an issue. At the very least, his slow death at the hands of a hoard of zombies would be unpleasantly painful. Logan started retreating quicker, but in his haste he tripped on a random string of barbed wire. He winced as the barbs dug into his ankle, a second before he tumbled towards the ground. He knew it wasn’t a serious injury, but injuries were so rare to the logical side that his pain tolerance was pitifully low. Logan gritted his teeth and tried not to cry out in pain as he began to unwind the spiked wire which had somehow twisted itself around him like a purposeful snare (Knowing Remus, that wasn’t off the table). The hoard of zombies began to stumble closer, accompanied by the typical groaning noises. Logan began to feel afraid.</span>
  <em>
    <span> It’s not real, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought, in a last-ditch effort to save himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This is just a part of Thomas’s imagination. You aren’t real, you can’t feel pain, the zombies can’t hurt you because they’re not real, of course they aren’t, they</span>
  </em>
  <span> aren’t real–</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hoard continued to crawl closer. Logan squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to panic. His ankle was killing him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’snotrealit’snotrealit’snotrealit’snotrealit’snot–</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The snarling suddenly stopped. For one brief, hubris-filled moment, Logan thought he had actually succeeded in overpowering the imagination. He let out a sigh of relief, opening his eyes to reveal a rotten face inches away from his own. Logan fell backward, startled, before realizing that the zombie was encased in some sort of green magical aura that was holding it in place. Remus was suddenly in front of him, extending a hand to the grounded logical side. He hadn’t changed anything about his outfit to fit the new setting (unlike his brother, who practically had a different costume for each room of his castle), and other than the green goo and red blood that covered him he looked exactly the same as he had that morning. Logan accepted the assist up, the barbed wire having miraculously untangled itself. “Thank you,” he said to Remus, who just shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s boring to wait for you to beg for mercy like a normal person. Anyway, what do you want? In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a bit busy.” The duke’s high-pitched voice had an annoyed edge to it, and he was glaring at Logan. However, he wasn’t attacking Logan, which was a good sign. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan bit his lip. “Well. In that vein, actually–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vein? Like the thing that carries blood? I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> ripping those open and–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan sighed. “On a </span>
  <em>
    <span>similar subject line</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I actually came here to… ask for your assistance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus tilted his head in confusion so suddenly it cracked. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan nodded. It felt terrible to say it out loud… but given the pain in his leg, the general horrid atmosphere, and the fact that the only thing standing between him and mutilation was a notably unstable nobleman, it didn’t necessarily make his situation worse than it already was. There was nothing to do but continue onward. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have come to the realization that I may need a better way of managing my emotional outbursts,” Logan said quickly. “You mentioned ‘blowing off steam’ when we last spoke… I was wondering if you had any techniques for doing so… or any other advice you could offer.” The last part was much quieter and quicker than the rest of his request, but a mischievous flicker in Remus’s eyes let Logan know that he heard every word. It faded quickly, though, and for a few moments Remus looked close to thoughtful. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, I guess you can kill zombies with me. That’s how I get rid of stress. Don’t know if it would work on an </span>
  <em>
    <span>intellectual</span>
  </em>
  <span> such as yourself, but– if you really want to, you’re welcome to give it a try.” Somehow, Logan got the sense that ‘intellectual’ was intended to be an insult, although he couldn’t quite place why. He decided not to address it, as Remus had gone back to regarding him with a cold kind of not-quite-hostility and he didn’t want to antagonize him further. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan nodded. “I’d love to give it a try anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Splendid.” Without warning, Remus grabbed him by the shoulder. Before Logan had time to react, the world itself began to warp and distort. Reality began to compact in nauseating, incomprehensible spirals. Whatever it was ended in an instant, but it still sent Logan reeling. He toppled over for the second time that day onto a smooth black surface as Remus cackled. “Ah, why so sad, teach? I figured you’d like my kind of teleportation. Bending reality in half, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>A Wrinkle In Time</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Much more scientific.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan groaned. He shakily got to his feet, wincing from the pain in his leg. The pair were once again standing at the top of Remus’s tower. Remus casually summoned his mace and twirled in through the air. “Alrighty! Ready to vent your frustration on these innocents?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan looked down at the mob of zombies below, which looked like it had doubled in size since his last encounter with them. “Are they not trying to attack us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus shrugged. “Eh, whatever helps ya sleep at night! Oh, before I forget–” Remus tossed Logan a glass bottle, which Logan fumbled with a few times before catching. It was a typical fantasy potion bottle, containing an opaque liquid that was emitting a soft pink glow. “Healing potion,” Remus explained. “I stole some from Roro a while back, before discovering that they make everything incredibly boring. But you look like you’re about to pass out from that little leg wound, which would also be kinda boring.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan removed the cork from the top of the bottle and took a cautious sip. The mixture tasted like roses, and it did relieve some of the pain in his leg. “Thank you,” he said to Remus, before chugging the rest of the bottle. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus shrugged it off. “I’m not summoning a weapon for you, though. That’s a you problem.” Remus made his way to the edge of the tower and once again sat dangerously close to the edge so that he could whack the zombies that approached. After a few failed attempts, Logan was able to successfully summon a sleek, sci-fi laser gun. He fired an experimental shot into the crowd of crawlers below and watched as the zombie he hit disintegrated as soon as it came into contact with the blue light. He had to admit there was something oddly gratifying about it… Logan imagined that children who used magnifying glasses to burn up ants felt a similar kind of satisfaction. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is… fun,” Logan told Remus. He hoped it didn’t sound too forced. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus didn’t respond. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which was fine! Logan hadn’t come here for conversation. He continued to take out zombies from above. The silence wasn’t bothering him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite this, Logan found himself attempting conversation once again. “So… I noticed that your tears are made of some sort of acid? That’s interesting.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus almost smiled. “Heh, yeah. I used to cry blood, but red just isn’t my color. Besides, it's cool that I can use my hurt to hurt other people! And acid is just fun in general.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Those are good points,” Logan said politely. “Do you have a structure in place to keep it from injuring your face?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus shrugged and swung his mace into the skull of another zombie. “Nah. Kinda just magic. The scars made it too easy to tell when I had been crying, and Dee </span>
  <em>
    <span>already</span>
  </em>
  <span> hyper analyzes everyth–” He suddenly cut himself off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan swallowed. “Well, maybe I– </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> could study the substance one day? See exactly what causes this phenomenon?” The invitation hung in the air. Remus didn’t respond, and it was harder to pretend it didn’t sting. Logan nervously fired a few more shots into the crowd, hoping the awkwardness would dissolve into a more comfortable silence given some time. It did not. The silence got worse by the second, like water pressure pushing down on a sinking ship. After missing his fifth shot in a row (because now he was being distracted by a lack of talking, which made no sense at all; not making sense seemed to be the only constant today) Logan finally cracked and shattered the silence once more. “Do you always use a post-apocalyptic setting, or–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my Jesus </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Remus cut him off angrily. “Logan, I’m not in the mood for your goddamn</span>
  <em>
    <span> small talk</span>
  </em>
  <span>, alright? So stop being a coward and apologize or leave me the hell alone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan blinked. “I… I am sorry that I hurt you, Remus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus folded his arms. “That’s all?” he snarked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan inhaled. “I… I don’t want to be disingenuous with you, Remus. I don’t regret the sentiments I expressed. I believe that I have the right to feel upset at the lack of attention my input has been getting as of late. </span>
  <em>
    <span>However,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he added quickly, before Remus had the chance to protest, “I recognize that ranting to you about this sensitive topic. And that’s part of why I’m here– I want to learn how to handle my– ugh, my </span>
  <em>
    <span>emotions</span>
  </em>
  <span> in a manner that’s less likely to cause spontaneous combustion. Which is why I came to you for help.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus raised one eyebrow. “Nice speech, teach. You practice it in front of the mirror?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Yes. I hope it was satisfactory.” Logan thought it was best to tell the truth in this scenario. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A smile wormed its way onto Remus’s face. “Welp, I still think you’re an oversensitive prick, but at least you’re kinda self-aware about it. And I know that it’s hard for you to get off your cocaine-high horse and ask for help, so you can have bonus points for that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Was there a grading system I was unaware of?” Logan asked, startled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re a solid 7. But that’s not important right now.” Remus waved off Logan’s concern. “But look. You really came to me for advice?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan nodded. He wasn’t sure how useful the duke’s suggestion would be, but even gag advice wouldn’t hurt him (Probably). </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alrighty! Lesson one: Stop being such an egotistical conglomeration of sludge!” Remus looked almost pleased with himself as he said this; Logan honestly wasn’t sure what he expected.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Care to elaborate?” Logan said dryly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why, it would be my honor, sub-astute teacher!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” Logan snarked, “Stealing nicknames from Roman now, are we?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh- </span>
  <em>
    <span>NO!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Remus protested, suddenly blushing red. “Don’t interrupt me! God, can’t believe that prissy twit of a sibling used that one already… But anyway! If you really want the others to listen to you… you can’t just stop talking. Even if they don’t want to hear it. Number one way of getting ignored is not saying anything”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan opened his mouth for a retort, but found he had nothing to say. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I get that it's not always easy, ‘specially when the others treat your ideas like a half-eaten carcass at the side of the road, but you can’t just give up. T-dog may not want you all the time, but he does </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> you. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… that was very insightful advice, Remus. Thank you.” Logan rolled the words around in his brain, trying to get used to them. He hadn’t expected such a sweet sentiment.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I don’t know about </span>
  <em>
    <span>insightful</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s just what I have to tell myself to stop from going too far off the deep end.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan stopped for a moment to consider what depths of insanity even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Remus</span>
  </em>
  <span> wouldn’t want to encounter, before deciding he’d rather not imagine it. “Regardless, it was helpful. I appreciate the help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow! It’s almost like asking for help tends to be helpful! Y’know, I would have never thought of that!” Remus said pointedly as he wiped a bit of slime off of his face. “Now, call me crazy, but maybe asking some of the facets who are actually good with emotions and like, stable, will yield even better results!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan sighed. “Alright, now I think you’ve gone too far. The others don’t need to know about this.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh. Well, it’s your funeral. Hey, isn’t this getting awfully boring?” Remus asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I was actually starting to find the shooting mechanic strangely relaxing–”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, that’s 'cause you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>suuuuuper</span>
  </em>
  <span> boring.” Remus casually pulled a grenade out of thin air and tossed it over his shoulder at the creatures below. An eruption of orange fire and green entrails exploded behind him. A significant portion of the goop rained down upon the two of them, which frustratingly made no sense regarding the laws of physics and aerodynamics. “Oh noooooooo,” Remus deadpanned, “All of the zombies just met their horrible ends oh Satan what a tragedy guess we can’t keep doing this anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan grimaced and wiped the green chunks off of his glasses. “Well… I believe earlier today you made the offer of… how did you put it… ‘doing science shit?’ I’d be happy to partake in another dissection.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm. Tempting! But I think I wanna have some me-time, if that’s alright. I’m not really one to hold a grudge, but I’m still not completely over how much of an ass you are. And also I haven’t visited my sex dungeon in </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan nodded. “That’s a fair reaction. Well, if you are ever in the mood, please feel free to contact me. But maybe knock first next time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus laughed. “Oh! Definitely not. But I will be seeing you later.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I look forward to it,” Logan said with a cordial smile. “And thank you again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s no problem. I’ll find a way to get back at you eventually!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm. I must admit I’m less excited about that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus chuckled. “Yeah, you might wanna watch your back, teach! You never know what might be waiting right behind you, just out of the corner of your eye….” Remus let the threat hang in the air for a moment, before snapping his fingers and summoning a cartoon-looking green door. He swung it open for Logan to reveal the hallway. “Anyway, have a good night!” He said brightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Right. You as well, Remus.” With one last nod, Logan stepped through the door and into the hallway. The door swung shut behind him, and Logan heard the soft click of a lock sliding into place. He sighed, before returning to his own room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After finally fixing his door (which took a bit longer than he would have liked to admit; he wasn’t as skilled with conjuring as the twins), he turned his attention back to the neat pile of papers on his desk. He had been drafting Thomas’s schedule before the had been interrupted– a schedule that was, in all likelihood, going to be completely ignored. But he still had to do it, no matter how useless it felt. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? Remus was right, it was his obligation as Thomas’s logic to continue with his job, even if it hurt him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then again… Remus had been right, and Logan had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That was an entirely new feeling. Logan knew he wasn’t infallible (he was, of course, limited by Thomas’s perception of the world, and only had access to the knowledge he had acquired) but it was still startling to be proven wrong, especially when another side had the correct answer. If Remus was capable of providing helpful solutions to his dilemmas, perhaps the other sides had similar wisdom buried somewhere under the frivolous emotions and quirky aesthetic choices? Perhaps, in the ultimate twist, it was Logan that needed to do more listening to the other aspects of Thomas. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The logical side smirked at the irony of it all. He still wasn’t convinced– the situation with Remus could have been a fluke, and if any variable was to skew his data it would be the duke. It was just a theory, just one more revelation to add to the growing pile he had accumulated over the course of the day. Maybe it would be important to make a list of each of the ideas, for better and more organized consideration–</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan suddenly felt a tug in his gut. Someone– probably Thomas, judging from the severity of the feeling– was trying to summon him to reality. Logan could sense fear and urgency in the summon, meaning that Virgil was likely already– ah. He must have caught wind of the recent developments. Which meant that Thomas was likely experiencing another internal crisis as his Anxiety and Deceit battled it out. Logan sighed. That was a kind of chaos he did not want to deal with. And on top of that, Thomas’s schedule was still only half-complete, and he had promised himself he would finish it before leaving his room again. He could probably use that as an excuse and leave Patton to deal with this mess he had pretty much created… it wasn’t like he was going to be listened to during the discussion, anyway… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>...But that was entirely the wrong attitude. Logan winced as he realized what a hypocrite he was being, not even thirty minutes after he was told explicitly to not act so aloof. Well, at least he had realized before it was too late! And it was true that he was already tired, and that sorting through this mess was not going to be pleasant, or easy, and that it would be so simple to stay where he was– but he had a job to do. Logan sunk out of his room, determined to let his voice be heard. </span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks so much for reading!!! no clue when im going to post again (quarantine is hell) but i'll see you next time!!! ANYWAY off to rewatch Epithet Erased for the 5000003245th time :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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